DIVISION 2

Rights, Duties, Obligations and Prohibitions

 

Right to form and join a union and to be a member of a union

6‑4(1) Employees have the right to organize in and to form, join or assist unions and to engage in collective bargaining through a union of their own choosing.

(2) No employee shall unreasonably be denied membership in a union.

 

Coercion and intimidation prohibited

6‑5 No person shall use coercion or intimidation of any kind that could reasonably have the effect of compelling or inducing a person to become or to refrain from becoming or to continue to be or to cease to be a member of a union.

 

Certain actions against employees prohibited

 

6‑6(1) No person shall do any of the things mentioned in subsection (2) against another person:

(a) because of a belief that the other person may testify in a proceeding pursuant to this Part;

(b) because the person has made or is about to make a disclosure that may be required of the person in a proceeding pursuant to this Part;

(c) because the person has made an application, filed a complaint or otherwise exercised a right conferred pursuant to this Part; or

(d) because the person has participated or is about to participate in a proceeding pursuant to this Part.

 

(2) In the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1), no person shall do any of the following:

(a) refuse to employ or refuse to continue to employ a person;

(b) threaten termination of employment or otherwise threaten a person;

(c) discriminate against or threaten to discriminate against a person with respect to employment or a term or condition of employment or membership in a union;

(d) intimidate or coerce or impose a pecuniary or other penalty on a person.

 

Acquisition of bargaining rights

 

6‑9(1) A union may, at any time, apply to the board to be certified as bargaining agent for a unit of employees appropriate for collective bargaining if a certification order has not been issued for all or a portion of that unit.

(2) When applying pursuant to subsection (1), a union shall:

(a) establish that 45% or more of the employees in the unit have within the 90 days preceding the date of the application indicated that the applicant union is their choice of bargaining agent; and

(b) file with the board evidence of each employee’s support that meets the prescribed requirements.

 

 

Certification order

 

6‑13(1) If, after a vote is taken in accordance with section 6‑12, the board is satisfied that a majority of votes that are cast favour certification of the union as the bargaining agent for a unit of employees, the board shall issue an order:

(a) certifying the union as the bargaining agent for that unit; and

(b) if the application is made pursuant to subclause 6‑10(1)(b)(ii), moving a portion of one bargaining unit into another bargaining unit.

(2) If a union is certified as the bargaining agent for a bargaining unit:

(a) the union has exclusive authority to engage in collective bargaining for the employees in the bargaining unit and to bind it by a collective agreement until the order certifying the union is cancelled; and

(b) if a collective agreement binding on the employees in the bargaining unit is in force at the date of certification, the agreement remains in force and shall be administered by the union that has been certified as the bargaining agent for the bargaining unit.

 

DIVISION 5

Votes

 

Votes by secret ballot

 

6‑22(1) All votes required pursuant to this Part or directed to be taken by the board must be by secret ballot.

(2) A vote by secret ballot is not required among employees in a bargaining unit consisting of two employees or fewer.

(3) An employee who has voted at a vote taken pursuant to this Part is not competent or compellable to give evidence before the board or in any court proceedings as to how the vote was cast.

(4) The results of the vote mentioned in subsection (1), including the number of ballots cast and the votes for, against or spoiled, must be made available to the employees who were entitled to vote.

 

Voting requirements

 

6‑23 On the application of the affected union or an affected employee or on its own motion, the board may:

(a) require that a vote required pursuant to this Part, or directed to be taken by the board, be supervised, conducted or scrutinized by the board or a person appointed by the board;

(b) establish the manner and time in which the vote is required to be conducted and when and how notice of the vote must be provided to those entitled to vote;

(c) determine, by order, by board regulation or both, general eligibility requirements as to who is entitled to vote;

(d) determine whether a person:

(i) satisfies the eligibility requirements; and

(ii) is an employee or is an employee entitled to vote; and

(e) require that the employer and the union give all eligible employees an opportunity to vote.

 

DIVISION 12

Unfair Labour Practices

 

Unfair labour practices – employers

6‑62(1) It is an unfair labour practice for an employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, to do any of the following:

(a) subject to subsection (2), to interfere with, restrain, intimidate, threaten, or coerce an employee in the exercise of any right conferred by this Part;

(b) subject to subsection (3), to discriminate respecting or interfere with the formation or administration of any labour organization or to contribute financial or other support to it;

(c) to engage in collective bargaining with a labour organization that the employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer has formed or whose administration has been dominated by the employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer;

(d) to fail or refuse to engage in collective bargaining with representatives of a union representing the employees in a bargaining unit whether or not those representatives are the employees of the employer;

(e) to refuse to permit a duly authorized representative of a union with which the employer has entered into a collective agreement or that represents the employees in a bargaining unit of the employer to negotiate with the employer during working hours for the settlement of disputes and grievances of:

(i) employees covered by the agreement; or

(ii) employees in the bargaining unit;

(f) to make any deductions from the wages of any duly authorized representative of a union respecting the time actually spent in negotiating for the settlement of the disputes and grievances mentioned in clause (e);

(g) to discriminate with respect to hiring or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment or to use coercion or intimidation of any kind, including termination or suspension or threat of termination or suspension of an employee, with a view to encouraging or discouraging membership in or activity in or for or selection of a labour organization or participation of any kind in a proceeding pursuant to this Part;

(h) to require as a condition of employment that any person shall abstain from joining or assisting or being active in any union or from exercising any right provided by this Part, except as permitted by this Part;

(i) to interfere in the selection of a union;

(j) to maintain a system of industrial espionage or to employ or direct any person to spy on a union member or on the proceedings of a labour organization or its offices or on the exercise by any employee of any right provided by this Part;

(k) to threaten to shut down or move a plant, business or enterprise or any part of a plant, business or enterprise in the course of a labour management dispute;

(l) to declare or cause a lockout or to make or threaten any change in wages, hours, conditions or tenure of employment, benefits or privileges while:

(i) any application is pending before the board; or

(ii) any matter is pending before a labour relations officer, special mediator or conciliation board appointed pursuant to this Part;

(m) unless a union has not tendered payment as authorized by section 6‑36, to deny or threaten to deny to any employee any benefit plan, as defined in section 6‑36, that the employee enjoyed before the cessation of work or the exercise of any rights conferred by this Part:

(i) by reason of the employee ceasing to work as the result of a lockout or while taking part in a stoppage of work due to a labour management dispute if that lockout or stoppage of work has been:

(A) imposed by the employer; or

(B) called in accordance with this Part by the union representing the employee; or

(ii) by reason of the employee exercising any of those rights;

(n) before a first collective agreement is entered into or after the expiry of the term of a collective agreement, to unilaterally change rates of pay, hours of work or other conditions of employment of employees in a bargaining unit without engaging in collective bargaining respecting the change with the union representing the employees in the bargaining unit;

(o) if one or more employees are permitted or required to live in premises supplied by, or by arrangement with, the employer, to refuse, deny, restrict or limit the right of the employee or employees to allow access to the premises by members of any union representing or seeking to represent the employee or employees or any of them for the purpose of collective bargaining;

(p) to question employees as to whether they or any of them have exercised, or are exercising or attempting to exercise, any right conferred by this Part;

(q) to terminate an employee for failure to acquire or maintain membership in a union, in circumstances where membership is a condition of employment, if the employee complies with subsections 6‑42(5) and (6);

(r) to contravene an obligation, a prohibition or other provision of this Part imposed on or applicable to an employer.

 

(2) Clause (1)(a) does not prohibit an employer from communicating facts and its opinions to its employees.

(3) Clause (1)(b) does not prohibit an employer from:

(a) permitting representatives of a union to confer with the employer for the purpose of collective bargaining or attending to the business of a union without deductions from wages or loss of time while so occupied; or

(b) agreeing with any union for the use of notice boards and of the employer’s premises for the purposes of the union.

 

(4) For the purposes of clause (1)(g), there is a presumption in favour of an employee that the employee was terminated or suspended contrary to this Part if:

(a) an employer or person acting on behalf of the employer terminates or suspends an employee from employment; and

(b) it is shown to the satisfaction of the board or the court that employees of the employer or any of them had exercised or were exercising or attempting to exercise a right pursuant to this Part.

 

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the burden of proof that the employee was terminated or suspended for good and sufficient reason is on the employer.

(6) If a certification order has been issued, nothing in this Part precludes an employer from making an agreement with the union that:

(a) requires as a condition of employment:

(i) membership in or maintenance of membership in the union; or

(ii) the selection of employees by or with the advice of a union; or

(b) deals with any other condition in relation to employment.

 

(7) No employer shall be found guilty of an unfair labour practice contrary to clause (1)(d), (e), (f) or (n):

(a) unless the board has made an order determining that the union making the complaint has been named in the certification order as the bargaining agent of the employees; or

(b) if the employer shows to the satisfaction of the board that the employer did not know and did not have any reasonable grounds for believing, at the time when the employer committed the acts complained of, that:

(i) the union represented the employees; or

(ii) the employees were actively endeavouring to have a union represent them.